Extra Sensory Deception - the 4th (and Final) Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

And so, with sadness in my heart, we come to the fourth, and final, Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery.  With this last book in the series, we get our last adventure with Clara Quinn, her cousin Stephanie, her dog Tatters, her mother Jessie, her boyfriend Rick, the town's sheriff Dan, the sheriff's deputy Tim, Clara and Stephanie's employee at the bookstore Molly, and Molly's new addition to the store, a small homeless cat named Edgar (after Poe, of course!).  Author Allison Kingsley has created a quickly little world in the small New England town of Finn's Harbor, Maine, with a diverse cast of characters that I've grown to really like and about whom I have enjoyed reading.  I will miss them all, and it's a shame Kingsley did not continue the series...

 

Extra Sensory Deception features a murder mystery that is set in the most unlikely of places, considering the location of Finn's Harbor.  A rodeo has come town!  Yes, you read that right.  A rodeo - in a small town on the coast of New England. Definitely not where I thought the author would take our intrepid psychic sleuth next, but it turned out to be quite the intriguing mystery.  A great improvement over the last book, whose murderer just sort of popped up out of nowhere.  This time around, Kingsley provides readers with some subtle clues along the way (if you are careful enough to catch them!), and the visions Clara has with her Quinn Sense are a lot trickier than they've ever been - but they all come true, just not how Clara (nor the reader) expects them to.  Plus, we get a lot more of Tatters in this book, one of the supporting cast finally learns about Clara's abilities, and Clara herself discovers that dogs are not the only animals whose minds she can read.  For a final book, this one pulls out all the stops!

 

The story centers around the rodeo and a murder that takes place on the opening night.  A woman is found dead, strangled behind the main stage.  The problem is, the piggin' string used to stranger the woman belongs to Wes Carlton, a good friend of Clara's boyfriend, Rick.  So, needless to say, Clara, with her cousin's help, begins asking questions, hoping to prove Wes' innocence (although everything she finds seems to point to Wes as the guilty party!).  The visions she has - a clown getting run down by a truck, a cowboy with a red shirt standing over the body, and a clown tumbling down the stands and being chased by an angry bull - make absolutely no sense, and her attempts to warn the one clown she meets are not taken seriously.  The digger she deeps, however, the more secrets she uncovers.  Like, how the dead woman was known for turning down suitors in a hateful manner, making herself any number of enemies. Like, how some of the other women in the rodeo hated the idea that the men they liked were in love with the victim.  Like, how the owner of the rodeo was possibly having an affair with the victim.  And like, how the wife of the owner had some very damaging evidence that she destroyed in order to protect one of the suspects!

 

It is funny how Clara and Stephanie are so careful to avoid doing anything to attract the attention of the Sheriff, since he has made it super clear in previous books that they are to stay out of it; the only problem is, when Clara has her final confrontation with the killer (someone she never even suspected, although some of the clues had been right in front of her the whole time!), it means the Sheriff has no way to show up in time to save her.  It is only through Stephanie's concern for her cousin and Rick's quick actions that Clara is saved from a charging bull and the killer is brought to justice!

 

I have to wonder if Kingsley had been to a rodeo recently, or knew someone who worked in the rodeo circuit, or perhaps even was a fan of rodeos; the story has some pretty good details about the inner workings of such an event, and it lends some reality to the story.  Also, I thoroughly enjoyed Clara's bantering with Tatters (even if no one else can hear the dog's thoughts), and was thrilled when Clara discovered she could also read the minds of cats when Molly happens to hide a stray cat in the bookstore storeroom.  I thought that opened up the doors for some interesting possibilities, had the series continued.  And speaking of which, it definitely felt like Kingsley was setting up the premise of the next book (or, at the very least, a near future mystery), because there were several references to the bookstore getting an author or two to come out and do a signing.  That definitely sounds like a great set-up for a new murder mystery.  But, alas, that was clearly not to be, and such a set-up leads me to believe that the termination of the series was not Kingsley's choice. 

 

It's a shame to see this series end, but if it had to come to a conclusion, this book was a fitting book to do so.  While there were a few plot lines that remain unresolved (does Clara ever tell Rick about her abilities?  does Clara ever move out of her mother's house? do Clara and Rick take their relationship to the next level?), the book ends with a relatively happy, satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader smiling.

 

RATING:  10 thick white pillars wound with English ivy out of 10 for a superbly plotted murder mystery, a fun story, and a sad, but satisfying, ending to the series. 

Trouble Vision - the 3rd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

What better way to start off the new year than reading a great murder mystery?  Well, to be honest, I read this book and am writing this blog post before the New Year - but since it's not going up before 2025 begins, I figured it would be a great way to ring in the new year!  And thus far, I've enjoyed the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mysteries by Allison Kingsley, the first two books in the series having some great mysteries to them - and the fact that one of the main characters has a psychic ability is just an added plus.  As the blurb on the back cover says, "Delightful ... [A] winning addition to the cozy paranormal mystery realm" (from bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn) - and I could not agree more.

Trouble Vision is the third book in this series about cousins, Clara and Stephanie Quinn.  After having solved two previous murders in their small coastal town of Finn's Harbor, the only excitement the new year has brought with it is a town uproar concerning the new resort being built along the coast.  The townspeople are fearful the resort will take away a lot of their summer tourist business, but the mayor believes it will only bring in more business for everyone.  The town meeting is heated, and a number of people are extremely irate - but the question is, was someone mad enough to kill the foreman in charge of the construction, Scott Delwyn?  Clara's "Quinn Sense" visions sure think so!

Kingsley provides a superb mystery here, as the foreman's fall from the scaffolding appears to be nothing more than an accident.  No one saw anything, there are no signs of a struggle, and the cause of death is attributed to the damage sustained from the fall.  There is absolutely nothing suspicious about the fall at all.  So, why, then, does the Quinn Sense keep nagging at Clara that there is a lot more to this death than it appears?  She can't go to the police with what she suspects, because who would believe her hunch is based upon a psychic impression, especially when Clara is determined to keep her abilities a secret from everyone except her cousin.  Thus, she and Stephanie, along with their assistant at the Raven's Nest bookstore, Molly, set out to uncover the truth of what happened that night.

The mystery is intriguing through pretty much the entire book.  Kingsley provides only the slightest of hints / clues as to the identity of the killer, and it becomes even more confusing with someone robs the local bank right in the middle of mid-day and gets away without anyone knowing who it was!  Clara's second sight suddenly changes, and she sees the ghost of Scott Delwyn outside the bank, convincing her that his death and the bank robbery are connected.  Clara also finds herself being pulled (psychically) into the past to witness his murder (but not the murderer) and the robbery (but not the identity of the thief).  She even tries to convince the chief of police the two incidents are connected, but he will not listen and warns Clara that she and her cousin better stay away from this or he will throw them both in jail!

And not only does the reader get treated to the evolving powers of Clara's psychic abilities, but we also get treated to Clara's evolving relationship with Rick Sanders, who owns the hardware store across the street from the Raven's Nest.  After what happened in New York, Clara has been ambivalent about whether she has been ready to enter into another relationship - but in this book, she finally takes a step in the right direction, and readers who have been enjoying this series will all breathe a sigh of relief - finally!

The only drawback to this book is the final revelation regarding the killer's identity.  There's no clue anywhere in the story as to the killer's motive, so when it is revealed, it almost feels the same as when Mrs. Voorhees is revealed as the killer in the first Friday the 13th film - absolutely no way the viewer (or in this case, the reader) could have known based upon everything that has been revealed up until that point.  I took a look back through the book, and although there are things that point to the identity of the killer, there is nothing that gives even the slightest hint as to the motive.  For me, that was a let-down, as I have been enjoying this series so much, and I felt Kingsley owed it to her readers to at least give us some tidbit of a clue prior to the final reveal.

Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to reading the fourth (and sadly, final) book in the series, and hopefully it goes out on a high note!

RATING:  7 gift certificates for a day at the spa out of 10 for a great combination of psychic abilities and mystery crafted into a nice tale of murder!

A Sinister Sense - the 2nd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

It was definitely time to return to Raven's Nest bookstore to see what trouble Clara Quinn and her cousin, Stephanie Quin, will find themselves in this time.  Surprisingly, the author, Allison Kingsley, moved away from telling the story from both cousins' points-of-view and instead focuses more on Clara in this book.  We only get one brief chapter from Stephanie's point-of-view, and it is merely her trying to get ready as she and Clara prepare to confront the person they believe to be the killer.  Personally, I prefer the story being told from one character's point-of-view, as the alternative POVs can become a bit much at times.  So, I'm happy Kingsley settled on just one character to take us through this second mystery in the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery series.

A Sinister Sense does not give us a time frame for how long it has been since the cousins managed to unmask the killer in the previous book.  There are a couple of mentions in passing of the women having involved themselves in the last murder mystery, but it comes across as if that happened months ago, if not longer.  Clara and Stephanie have settled into their routine at Raven's Nest, with the help of their young assistant, Molly, and Clara continues to fight her obvious attraction to that hunk of a man who works at the hardware store across the street, Rick Sanders.  And, of course, that ever-bothersome Roberta Prince still runs her stationary store next door, and she still has her eyes set on Rick, even though he has absolutely no interest in her whatsoever.  Life has settled back to normal in Finn's Harbor, and we all know what that means - time for another murder!

Kingsley starts the story innocently enough - Rick's ex-wife has dropped off their humongous shaggy dog for him to take in; and the first thing it does is chase after poor Roberta, who made the mistake of offering it a few dog biscuits, in the hopes of getting in good with its owner.  The next thing you know, the dog chases Roberta into Raven's Nest, and Clara has to prevent the dog from damaging the store!  Rick shows up, bandaged finger and all, to reclaim the dog and explain the situation to Clara (who, by the way, was not even aware Rick had an ex-wife!).  Rick explains how he hurt his finger, giving details about the man who came in asking directions to city hall, the other customer browsing through the garden tools, and him trying to keep control of an uncontrollable dog.  Little do any of them realize that all of these daily things are about to lead to a murder...

The next day, Clara learns that a body was discovered in the back of Rick's truck, apparently placed there last night while Rick was at the bowling alley.  He is only a person of interest at first, since the body was found in his truck and the police have no clue as to the identity of the victim.  Soon enough, however, the evidence against Rick starts piling up.  The victim was in Rick's store the day before the murder.  The hammer used to kill the victim was from Rick's store.  And the clenching piece of evidence is Rick's DNA discovered from the blood on the sleeve of the victim's shirt!  The mayor is clamoring for Rick to be arrested, charged, and convicted so that the tourist town can once again be safe.  But Clara is confident Rick is innocent, and that little voice inside her head (otherwise know as the "Quinn Sense") is telling her the same thing.  The question is, though - who did kill the man and why?

Kingsley crafts a wonderful tale filled with plenty of suspects, and she keeps the clues given by the Quinn Sense vague enough to keep the reader guessing.  But every whispered word Clara hears, and every vision she sees, they all connect and point to a very specific person as the murderer.  For seasoned mystery readers, the killer will likely comes as no surprise (as with the first book, the identity of the killer is not hard to spot - it's the motive that takes some time to figure out); but it's getting there that is all the fun!  The "Quinn Sense" is not overused, nor is it a crutch that Clara is able to rely on to give her clues at exactly the right moment; rather, it is an unreliable tool that requires Clara to research and dig more into things to figure out what the clues mean.  Kingsley also manages to sneak in a bit more about Clara's past in New York and what happened between her and her fiance, which gives the reader a stronger sense of sympathy for the main character, making you root even more for her and Rick to get together!

 

One other thing I enjoyed about this book is seeing (reading?) more about Clara's relationship with her mother.  There is some strain, some love, some contrast, some battles, and ultimately some family bond that shines through, and it comes across very natural and real.  

 

Definitely a must-read for mystery fans and especially those who love these type of cozy mysteries.  It's truly a shame the series didn't make it past four books, but I guess those four are better than none at all!

 

RATING:  9  Northern Italian dinners out of 10 for another fantastic mystery with just a touch of psychic thrown in to make it all the more interesting!

Mind Over Murder - the 1st Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

This is probably not a series I would have ever picked up on my own.  A friend of mine gave me this book a few years back, and I set it up on my shelf and promptly forgot about it.  Once in a while, when going through my stack of books to be read, trying to decide which one to read next, I would see it and say, "I need to read that someday."  Well, that someday finally arrived, and I made the decision to pull it down and read it.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured since my friend put enough thought into it to give it to me, I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt.  And I was surprised how much I enjoyed it!

Mind Over Murder is the first book in the "Raven's Next Bookstore Mystery" series by Allison Kinglsey. It is different from other mystery series that I read, in that there is more than one main character in the story.  The protagonists are Clara and Stephanie Quinn, sisters who reside in the small town of Finn's Harbor, Maine.  Stephanie, who is married with children, has recently opened a bookstore (Raven's Nest - hence, the title to the series), and Clara just recently returned to town after living for years in New York.  To complicate matters, something happened to Clara while she was in New York that is keeping secret from her family, and it is one of the reasons she came home.  She agrees to help out at Stephanie's store until she can get herself established and find a job of her own.

Oh, and Clara also happens to have inherited the Quinn's family gift - a psychic sense of the future and other's thoughts.  But Clara does not like, nor does she want this "Quinn Sense," and she has spent years pushing it down.  Only, when a body is found in the back room of her sister's store, Clara finds herself in a position of having to turn to that "sense" in order to help figure out who the murderer is!

 

Kingsley does a great job of balancing the story between the two sisters.  I think writing the story in third-person rather than first-person helps.  I've noticed that with both The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers and The Hardy Boys Adventures series, which are written in first person with alternating chapters changing character points-of-view, the biggest complaint is trying to keep up with which character is now the focus.  But with this book, there is no confusion, and the transitions between Clara and Stephanie are smooth and easy to follow.  Plus, the characters are written sufficiently different, so that even without being named, the reader knows which one it is.  Now, the book does focus more heavily on Clara, which I think has to do with the fact that she is the one who just returned to town, she is the one carrying a secret regarding her past in New York City, and she is the one with psychic powers.  I'll be curious to see if that holds true in the other books of this series.

With regard to murder mystery, I have to admit the killer was fairly easy to spot.  Kingsley did try to throw in a number of possible suspects - the new owner of the business next door who turns out to have basically forced the victim to sell her the business before she died; the man whose life was basically ruined by the victim years before; the bookstore assistant whose last run in with the victim resulted in her threatening the woman; and even the good-looking guy who owns the hardware store across the street, who had his own ax to grind with the victim.  It seems the victim made an enemy of pretty much every person she met!  And even though Clara and Stephanie don't see it until the end, I think any astute reader who has been reading mysteries as long as I have will spot the killer early on - the signs are there, and while the means may not be clear, the motive and opportunity definitely are!

Overall, it was a really great read, and I will definitely be purchasing the next three books in the series (sadly, it appears there are only four books in this series - not sure if sales just didn't warrant any more, or if the author moved on to other things).  

RATING:  8 tiny whale charms out of 10 for a new mystery-solving duo with a twist!